Fils cuts short Gasquet title defence in Auckland

After a breakout season last year on the ATP Tour, Arthur Fils continued his good start to 2024 Tuesday at the ASB Classic.

The #NextGenATP Frenchman downed his countryman Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-4 in Auckland, where he is competing as the sixth seed this week on event debut. Fils powered 23 winners, including nine aces, according to Infosys ATP Stats, as he wrapped a 69-minute triumph against the 2023 champion.

“It was a joy to play on centre court,” said Fils, a quarter-finalist in Hong Kong last week, in his post-match press conference. “[Although] it was tough to play on the court. I lost a little bit of control of the balls, I think, but I served pretty good and I managed to break twice and hold my serve the whole match, so I’m pretty happy about it.”

Drum roll please 🥁

Gracing your timeline with an @ArthurFils1 backhand in all its glory 🤩#NextGenATP | @ASB_Classic | #ASBClassic pic.twitter.com/3Mn7ulNOgL

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 9, 2024

The only teenager in the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Fils was the youngest ATP Tour titlist in 2023 after winning in Lyon last May. The 19-year-old, who also advanced to the championship match at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah in December, now leads Gasquet 2-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“He’s a great champion,” said Fils of the former World No. 7 Gasquet. “He won here last year, so I was a little bit nervous before the match, but I’m really happy to play against him and I hope I’m going to play many more times against him.”

Fils will take on Nuno Borges in the second round in Auckland, where Max Purcell, Sebastian Ofner and Roberto Carballes Baena also claimed straight-sets first-round victories on Tuesday.

Purcell downed home wild card Kiranpal Pannu 6-4, 6-4 for his first singles victory of the season. The eighth-seeded Australian will next play Taro Daniel. Ofner defeated another wild card, Denis Shapovalov, 6-4, 6-2. It was Shapovalov’s first competitive match since he reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last July — the Canadian has since been sidelined with a knee injury.

Ofner will take on Carballes Baena next in New Zealand, after the World No. 67 prevailed 6-4, 6-3 in an all-Spanish battle with Roberto Bautista Agut.